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sizzlestick

Listed below are comments made by sizzlestick between Monday, 2nd February 2009 and Thursday, 22nd October 2009.

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Will Wall Street slashers impress Main Street ? 08:30am on 22 Oct 2009 The USA financial crisis is most illuminating. The smart ones aka smart money, Wall Street, Masters of the Universe etc are the cleverest people in the USA. During the go-go days, fat bonuses is the grand prize of capitalism. Even the 2007-2008 market meltdown is no detriment, they can always depend on socialism to take care of the financial institutions' losses. They are very good at taking care of their own ilk with pay bonuses and benefits.
These stand-out smarties are so conspicuous, I wonder who are the dumbest USA citizens? It got to be their warriors in the battlefields of Iraq and Afgahistan. During the same period, Wall Street prospered till The DJ index peaked in early 2207. And Wall Street prevailed during the DJ's bottoming in late 2008 and early 2009.
The non-achievement of the warrior class is too glaring to succor them from being called the dumbest. Two of their non-achievements : civil wars in the occupied territories and the re-instatement of opium cultivation after Taliban wiped it out.
The most gruesome weapons they face are home-made bombs and their most uesful weapon are the airplane drones flown by pilots sitting in air-conditioned rooms. While they sweat it out among the dirt and the hostiles.
Maybe its time for some career switch, Wall Street go to Afghanistan to sort it out. Whilst the current warrior class are retrenched like some of their fellow USA civillians. Let's put the smarties to work for a change.
The long and slow recovery of the UK economy 1:58pm on 22 Jul 2009 ''will unemployment be back to where it was in those halcyon days of early 2008? I'm afraid the answer appears to be 'approximately never'"
Hardly suprising, given that London and New York are the bountiful financiers of speculative asset bubble. If you really want to ramp up your GDP numbers, just begin again another round of international financing of speculative asssets.
The Western Governments are poor learners of practical economics, but instead prefer the 're-marketing' of the 'same old same old'. Has it not got into their heads, that the 'financial gurus' who touted esoteric financing in ABSs, CDOs, CDSs etc have no other aspirations than unduly enriching their own pocket books.
Not even the their obligations to their employers, the financial institutions' shareholders, are worth their bother. And the deluded Western Governments expect patriotism and civic morality to make these finacial 'munafiqs' to behave better. If the national economies do not support these 'munafiqs' assertions, they will still go the route of destroying their home-based economies just for self-fulfilling their contentions.
What we are witnessing now is the unraveling of the overreaching influence of financiers possessing 'funny' money. No laws or moral persuasion will make the greedy behave. And in the meanwhile, the Western economies continue to enjoy 'groping in the financial dark' to get their economies in order.
Governor criticises government (again) 00:17am on 18 Jun 2009 On reflection of the 2007-2008 US financial crisis and its aftermath, only 2 US 'industrial groups', both large employers, have maintain their 'credibility' and institutional credo as to be able to elicit admiration and faith in value exchange as per Adam Smith's 'invisible hand'.
They are Hollywood and the US militrary.
Hollywood, in general the US entertainment industry is worth billions of dollars, but its customers: the movie-goers, the TV( both cable and terrestial) audiences, the radio listeners, the CD buyers and the music downloaders are never in doubt as to the value of their 'purchased' entertainment. I have never seen a movie without enough 'warnings' like the motion picture rating system, it being adaptation of some history books and the coincidental nature of the movie charaters to that of real life. Where I live, there is a consderable Muslim population; movies about Jesus, Moses, etc comes with screening of the proviso that this type of Hollywood movie was made based on the Bible. So as not to anger the adherents of the Quran.
My point is that the audience/customers are forewarned to have no doubt as to entertainment value.
The US militrary is essentially a weapon of mass destruction. The soldiers, airmen and sailors honoure their occupations by going as far as to sacrifice their lives. Look as USA giving only optimal resources to preserve and save the lives of their soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet they continue to serve their political masters' subservience to the public relations objective of proportionate response. And this same government gave billions of aid to financial institutions so that the bankers can maintain 'living the lifestles of the rich and famous'. If you doubt this disconcertion, observe the bankers 'gaming' for bonuses. No conscientious efforts to understand 'self sacrifice' against a backdrop of patriotism and fair play.
What are the implications of these 2 industries on financial regulation?
Firstly, with reference to the exotic products of the financial institutions: these products are 'dreamlike' in nature and potential to be nightmares.
The regulators should not be embarrassed if the products' are beyond your comprehension. Just assume that if you do not understand it, it must be no good. Let the burden of proving the "nightmarish" nature of the products lie with the financial institutions.
Secondly, the regulators must have absolute or near-absulute control over the financial institutions, who are potentially 'weapons of monetary distruction'. The government is now funding the financial institutions: put your controls where your money is placed. This is capitalism at its best: deference to those who put out the most capital.
Only in the UK? 9:57pm on 16 Jun 2009 Stephanie says "Posen is a widely recognised authority on the Japanese experience since 1992." Well,the Japanese ain't listening to him since 1992! I do not blame them, Japan and USA are industrial rivals which makes Posen's credibility suspect.
Posen's superiority comes from being a "bit of distance from Threadneedle Street" is just nonsense. Since, Posen's economic prognosistication is to benefit the same 'road'.
I have had enough of mumbo-jumbo economists. Only one economist I trust: Paul Samuelson who pointed to the fallacy 'stocks are risky in the short run, they're safe in the long run'. It served me well for the my adult life of 20 years.
The global property scene 12:27pm on 15 Jun 2009 Singapore is 3rd from the bottom. And with 80% of its population residing in aparments built and sold by the Singapore government, repossession could never be issue. Can't imagine the G-men conflicting with voters over some delayed mortgage payments.
The war ends - with a whimper 08:36am on 02 Mar 2009 USA should quit war. Nothing is more stupid than seeing US government spending billions for bank bailouts, thus, ensuing that the bankers' can maintain their lifestyles. Yet this same government is constraint from using B52 strikes to wipe out the enemy to save their soldiers' lives.
Talk of disproportonate response: stimulus spending binge to save the civilian populace from economic catastrophe but much less in saving soldiers lives.
USA is in a philopsophical bind where total and quick withdrawal is the best option.
As an ex-soldier, I resent #93 for denigrating all citizens who volunteer to be soldiers as mercenaries. We do think.
And if our master, the government, stinge on using available weapons to overcome the enemy or else have no will to fight.
I ain't going to fight, too.
Saying sorry to the Chinese 01:54am on 16 Feb 2009 Michael Phelps and "The four ex UK bank CEOs said 'sorry' this Tuesday in House of Commons" have much in common.
Saying sorry after getting paid is so mammon.
Liars and 'Sorriers' are one breed.
Using words just for greed.
A Gaza victim speaks of peace 01:50am on 10 Feb 2009 After what happened to Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish and his family, I am sure Israel do need any friends at all.
The pressure for protectionism 12:21pm on 02 Feb 2009 As long as there are national borders in this crisis, financial protectionism is capitalism best spokesperson.

Let it be clearly understood the current global crisis originated from "stupid" Western bankers who thought they could do "socialistic" lending ( sub-prime loans to lesser credit-worthy borrowers) and fund these loans by selling them or borrowing from the private sector with surplus cash.

What rubbish of a model is this? The whole process of home ownership from land acquisition, house building to selling them are based on real-time market prices except for the mortgages. The main reason the bankers went "socialistic" was because the personal benefits received far outweighed their obligations to shareholders and other owners of their firm's liabilities.

The socialistic or communist governments succeeded in 'home ownership for the masses' policy is because of forceful acqusition of land and their resultant redistribution to the have-nots. Just go and see Singapore where 80% of the population stay in government-subsidised housing; this was achieved with
government capital and dictates.

Giving money to the banks only reinforces bad habits learned during the perod of reckless lending. There will always be available the next rich sucker, in this case, UK's Exchequer. The Banks do not want the 'role of the next rich sucker'. It is the government's destiny.
Is it time to ban the bomb? 11:19am on 02 Feb 2009 The more bellicose parts of the 3rd World believe that they have the the right to develop and own nuclear wapons. Why shouldn't they be allowed to 'game' regional or global power politics with nuclear warfare capabilities?
The aftermath of 9/11 proved that West's superior conventional warfare capability could not and did not produce the desired peaceful outcome that the 'winners' so desired.
The USA, the only country who used nuclear weapons twice, knew and understood the efficacy of these nuclear weapons. Don't you think that the 3rd World also realise this?
The only reason that the Western bloc and the Communists did not use their nuclear weapons was because the each side could not handle the aftermath of the first strike and the expected response from the other side.
As long as the West's leadership used economics based cost-benefit analytics, there is no compelling reason to reduce or give up the nuclear option.

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